Martin’s last appearance on CNN was Friday after the network decided not to renew his contract.

But in an interview with the Huffington Post, Martin said that executives at CNN were uncomfortable with hiring black people as hosts and systematically stunted his rise at the network because he is a bold, opinionated African American man.

Martin said he came to CNN with the intention of getting his own show. He said that it was never made clear to him why he was not moving up at CNN, but he suspected that it was about race – and being black.

“You have largely white male executives who are not necessarily enamored with the idea of having strong, confident minorities who say, ‘I can do this,'” Martin said. “We deliver, but we never get the big piece, the larger salary, to be able to get from here to there.”

Martin said that he hosted highly-rated specials for CNN, so he didn’t understand why he wasn’t rewarded.

“If it’s a ratings game, and we won, how is it I never got a show?” he said.